to conk out
7
8.1
- phrasal verb
- /kɔŋk aʊt/
- Informal
:
dejar de funcionar
- After a long day, I conked out on the couch before dinner.
- car conked out
- engine conked out
- battery conked out
Not bad, but if we try to go too high, it conks out a little bit.
- Not bad, but if we try to go too high, it conks out a little bit.
- And in three years when, you know, their old school oven conks out and their landlord is replacing it like they need this information.
- I ended up having, I ended up having my dinner and my glass of wine and conked out like this.
- Maybe I pushed the trigger slightly by accident and then the bullet went through, you know, the the dashboard and the car just conked out.
Examples
-
I tried to make it to the next exit but it conked out.
-
Well, Ellie conked out about halfway through the 2nd quarter and slept until the 4th quarter, and Emmie fell asleep after halftime and slept until almost the end of the game.
Blog text (1) -
Yeah, but those things conk out all the time.
-
I think this little one's finally conked out.
-
First, my car conks out for no good reason.
-
I stayed awake as long as I could, and then I conked out, too.
Fiction book (2000) -
Our youngest had conked out for the night, but my daughter was still more or less awake.
Blog text (16) -
My landlord came and fixed it, and it worked for a while; then two of the burners conked out.
Blog text (18) -
He finally conked out at 4:30 a.m.
Blog text (31) -
The heater conked out.
Synonyms
13
9.6
To stop working or trying suddenly
1
8.4
To become very tired or stop working
To suddenly break or stop working in a dramatic way
Antonyms
How Functional
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'conk' (to stop functioning or to knock someone out) combined with the particle 'out' (indicating complete cessation or unconsciousness) makes the general idea of stopping/going unconscious reasonably inferable from the parts. However, because 'conk' is somewhat low-frequency and polysemous and the specific extension to both mechanical failure and falling asleep is not fully predictable without exposure, the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Conk out may come from the old slang conk for the head. If someone was hit and was knocked out, they 'conked out'. People then used the same idea for machines: when a machine suddenly stops it is as if it was knocked out, so conk out means 'to stop working' or 'to fall asleep'.